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Austria
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Charles Leclerc says he needs a âresetâ and to âput everything togetherâ in Austria after what he described as a poor run of form for Ferrari, including a crash in Monaco and a power steering failure at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc said: "It was a bit better, and the weekend has been better generally, but with what happened, I just need to reset and come back in Austria and put everything together. I've lost significant points on my side, though. So I've got to do a pretty exceptional job from the next race until the end, with the upgrades coming from our side, and we will see."
Footage circulating on social media appears to show Formula 3 points leader Ugo Ugochukwu crashing an Alpine A525 during a private test at Monza, spinning at the Ascari chicane before hitting the tyre barrier. PlanetF1.com reports it was Ugochukwuâs first time driving a Formula 1 car and describes the incident as seemingly low-impact, with the gravel and barrier limiting the damage. As the run was a private TPC test, Alpine did not comment when approached.
One of Ayrton Sennaâs personally used Honda NSX road cars is set to go under the hammer at RM Sothebyâs London auction at the Peninsula London in October 2026, with bids estimated to reach up to ÂŁ800,000. The red NSX with a black roof (chassis T000233) was supplied by Honda for Sennaâs use in 1991 and comes with paperwork supporting its provenance, plus Portuguese ownership history documentation.
Audi team boss Mattia Binotto says the FIAâs additional power unit development allowance under ADUO will âbenefit significantlyâ the manufacturer, but he does not expect an immediate step in performance. Binotto said: "For Audi it will be a significant benefit. I think it's what we were expecting. Since the very start of the season, we knew that most of our gap to the top teams was on the power unit side. Not a surprise to us. Hard work will be required. We've got plans, but it will be beneficial, but not in the short term."
Oliver Bearman admits he approached the start of his Formula 1 rookie season at Haas with the âwrong mindsetâ after a difficult Australian Grand Prix weekend that included multiple on-track errors. Bearman said: "That weekend in general was a very tough one. I probably entered the weekend with the wrong mindset. On top of that, we had a car which was not the most compliant. It was a really bad start."
Aston Martin chief trackside engineer Mike Krack says the team need to improve âeverythingâ after a difficult start to the 2026 season that has included a lack of pace and reliability problems. Krack said: "I think it's everything. Yeah, I think we need to improve. If it was only one thing, it would be quite easy... But the fact that we are behind on both circuits shows you that I think it's all areas that we have to, have to work on."
Toto Wolff says Formula 1 should avoid putting a âfull handbrakeâ on customer-team arrangements in response to Zak Brownâs concerns about dual ownership, and instead make the rules on collaboration clearer. Toto Wolff said: "Because where do you stop? If we say, 'OK, full handbrake... we want to have 11 constructors,' that means everybody brings their own engine, everybody brings their own gearboxes, rear ends, etcetera. That would be obviously nirvana, but how should a relatively small team like Haas do that today? It's not possible. So, I think we need to allow space for all of the positions in that... the only right outcome and objective needs to be rules that make it even clearer what's on and what is not on."
Cadillac team boss Graeme Lowdon says the teamâs solid start to its debut Formula 1 season is a âdouble-edged swordâ because expectations can quickly get out of control as the car improves. Lowdon said: "We've really pushed to start as we mean to go on, and we've had pretty much something at every race. If you make a step forward, it raises everyone's expectations, but that comes with the territory, and you've got to embrace it. But you can get into that territory where the expectations are just too high."
George Russell said Mercedes dropped its Right of Review bid over his Monaco Grand Prix penalties because it âdid not have a caseâ, leaving his 12th-place result unchanged. Mercedes had filed the request after Pierre Gaslyâs Monaco time penalties were rescinded, but withdrew it days later. Russell wrote on Instagram: âHaving looked at every single possibility with the team to overturn the penalty from Monaco, unfortunately we did not have a case.â Mercedes added that pursuing the review âwill not serve our team or the sportâ.
Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes need to improve reliability after he retired from the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with a battery problem, describing the setback as a âbump in the roadâ. Antonelli said: "Of course, it's very disappointing, but these things happen. It happened to George in Canada; it happened to me this time. It's definitely something we need to work on as a team, because it's important points that we lost."
Lewis Hamilton says âinnovationâ will be key if Ferrari are to stop Mercedes ârunning awayâ with the championship, after his first victory as a Ferrari driver at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. Hamilton said: "It's so early in the season to get to this point. These guys have really listened and really worked hard to add performance and be innovative. This year is all about innovation. This is what I was asking for last year. It was like this team has to be the leaders in that, and they've shown that they can and they will."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes will âleave no stone unturnedâ to understand and fix its recent power unit failures after Kimi Antonelli retired from second place at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with what the team called an âelectrical shutdownâ. Wolff said: "We can't DNF cars in a regular, continued way. Losing 25 points in the constructors' championship in Montreal, and losing another 18 points [in Barcelona], in order to finish first, first you must finish - and reliability, this is what we need to get on top of. That is number one, and nobody is happy about it, and we will leave no stone unturned to understand [what is causing the issues]."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said Lewis Hamilton would have won the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix even without the virtual safety car, as he questioned whether McLaren should have tried a three-stop strategy for Lando Norris. Stella said: "If anything, the question in hindsight is whether we should have gone for a three-stop strategy. What was the right strategy? At one stage, when we saw that the hard tyres were performing well in the second stint, we thought the two-stop would be a way, at least, to try to limit Hamilton. But, as a matter of fact, Hamilton was fastâprobably the fastest car out thereâand I think he would have won anyway."
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies says Formula 1 needs âextreme certaintyâ in how it assesses the internal combustion engine pecking order before the FIA formally declares its findings on the awarding of ADUO. Mekies said: "Certainly, you will need to have extreme certainty in the way you are assessing the ICE pecking order. That is in order to have the right confidence to give it to the dominant team, and not to the team that is chasing the dominant team, especially when you get relative performance variations from track layout to track layout, that are perfectly consistent with ICE power sensitivity."
Lando Norris says he still believes McLaren can win races and keep its title defence alive despite a winless start to the 2026 season and a run of reliability-related retirements. Norris said: "I still believe we can win; we should have won in Miami, we could have won a race this year just on pure pace, and because we would have deserved it. That still gives me plenty of hope, not considering how far off we were at the beginning of the year. I think it's just the DNFs, the [lack of] reliability we've had, which has just hurt a lot. I don't think the title is impossible."
Williams team principal James Vowles says he is confident Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz want to stay with the team next season and would tell him if they were considering other Formula 1 options. Vowles said: "Because we have the same values in that honesty and transparency, it means that if they are considering anything else, they come to me and talk to me about it. At the moment, Carlos and Alex want their future to be here."
Sergio Perez says Cadillac are bringing a âbig packageâ of upgrades to the Austrian Grand Prix in the hope it will move them into the Formula 1 midfield fight, with the team still yet to score a point this season. Perez said: "It's good information for the team. We just have to make sure that we are able to come out on top, and we are bringing a big package for Austria. I hope that will bring us into the midfield group."
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